Whale bone (Fragment)

Description

Baleen is sometimes misleadingly called whalebone when in fact it is not bone at all. It is actually made of keratin (like in fingernails) and is harvested from the mouths of large whales. Baleen is a flexible but stiff material that can be worked with heat (thermoplastic) to be reshaped or even stamped into new forms. Baleen was popular for use as bristle in heavy duty brushes, and for corset stays and umbrella ribs. Baleen’s working properties are similar to horn, and it was used in much the same ways including in the manufacture of small boxes. It was also engraved and decorated in a similar way to scrimshaw. This is a fragment of baleen that has been incised lightly with drawings of sailing ships and whaling motifs.